Jesse Krohn started the #96 Turner M6 GT3 second on the GTD grid at Road America and soon moved into the lead. His co-driver Jens Klingmann extended the lead on his stint, warding of competitors who got closer during caution periods and finishing first in class in the two-hour-forty-minute IMSA WeatherTech Series race at Road America.
The fortunes of the Team RLL M6 GTLMs at Road America stood in contrast to the Turner team’s performance. Martin Tomczyk started the #24 M6 at the back of the grid because of a precautionary engine change. He moved up over the course of his stint, handing off to John Edwards, who fought his way to second. Fuel strategy caught up with the team on its last stop as it ran out of gas at the entrance to the pits. The team was able to refuel and get back in the race, but they could not recover the laps they had lost. They finished seventh. Alexander Sims in car #25 quickly moved up to second from his third place position on the grid. After the handoff to Bill Auberlen the car developed a damper problem that led to a long stop and a two-lap deficit. Sims, back in the car later in the race, was able to get back on the lead lap over the course of two caution periods. He was challenging for fourth near the end, but a collision with the #4 Corvette on the last lap caused severe damage to the left front of the car. Sims limped home in sixth. Joey Hand and Dirk Müller won the class in the #66 Ford GT.
James Clay in the #84 BimmerWorld 328i led the Street Tuner class before he pitted to hand off to Tyler Cooke. During the stop a yellow flag was thrown. Soon after, the yellow was replaced by a red flag because of lightning in the area. The race was ended with about forty minutes remaining, dropping the BimmerWorld car to sixth. Clay was the only front runner to pit; the leaders who remained on the track did not stop before the red flag was thrown. The win went to the Mazda MX-5 of Chad McCumbee and Stevan McAleer. Mini racers Derek Jones and Mat Pombo finished fifth. Two more Minis finished in the top ten; Mike LaMarra and James Vance finished seventh in #37, while Nate Norenberg and Chris Miller finished eighth in #52.
IMSA runs again at VIR on August 25-27.—Brian S. Morgan
